NEWS: Rassie Erasmus calls up five players to Springbok squad ahead of Portugal clash

The expanded 41-man squad features seven uncapped players, and also a couple of absences from the squad that did battle against Ireland.

READ: RESULT: Springboks’ second-half surge falls short as Frawley seals dramatic Irish win

Lock Franco Mostert and winger Edwill van der Merwe have been ruled out due to injury, with the extent of their respective injuries set to be confirmed on Monday, while centre Damian de Allende was permitted to exit the camp due to personal reasons.

The five players joining the squad are loose forward Elrigh Louw and prop Ntuthuko Mchunu – both capped, along with uncapped trio Quan Horn (fullback), Andre-Hugo Venter (hooker) and Ruan Venter (loose forward).

All five attended the Bok alignment camps in May and have joined the current group of players, including eight of the nine players who were released to their provincial unions last week to participate in the Carling Currie Cup.

Erasmus said Saturday night that several players would be released on Wednesday once the team had concluded their main on-field preparations for the historic Test against Portugal, which will play out at Toyota Stadium on Saturday.

The Springboks arrived in the Free State capital on Sunday afternoon and will begin their on-field preparations for the clash on Monday as they look to bounce back from their heart-breaking defeat 25-24 defeat against Ireland in Durban on Saturday.

As confirmed by Erasmus on Saturday, the starting team against Portugal will look completely different to the one that did battle against Ireland.

“It was always part of our planning to expose a few players to top class international rugby against Portugal in line with our objective to build squad depth with an eye on the 2027 Rugby World Cup,” said the Bok coach.

“Some of the players had a taste of international rugby against Wales at Twickenham, others received an opportunity off the bench against Ireland, and Andre-Hugo Venter toured with us to London for the Wales Test, so we are delighted with the quality of the players coming through the ranks.”

Erasmus added: “The players we plan to release will continue to put in the hard yards to prepare the team that will face Portugal, as we generally do with the non-playing players, which is invaluable in preparing the team as well as possible.”

Erasmus admitted that while it was a blow to go down against Ireland, the break for the players set to be released will be important as they look ahead to a challenging Rugby Championship campaign.

“This is a long and challenging season, and as much as it would have been great to win both matches against Ireland, it’s vital that we manage the players well to allow them to regenerate in order to maximise their performances throughout the season.

“Those players will have 10 days off, which means they’ll be fresh when they rejoin the squad before the Rugby Championship.”

Erasmus will announce his matchday team to face Portugal on Tuesday.

Springbok squad for the match against Portugal

Forwards: Ntuthuko Mchunu, Ox Nche, Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Frans Malherbe, Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane, Thomas du Toit, Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx, Johan Grobbelaar, Andre-Hugo Venter, Eben Etzebeth, Salmaan Moerat, RG Snyman, Siya Kolisi, Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Phepsi Buthelezi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos, Ruan Venter, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese.

Backs: Faf de Klerk, Grant Williams, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Handre Pollard, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Aphelele Fassi, Quan Horn.